Category: Happiness

Smoked Salmon (Lox) Emergency

For those of you less informed people, Lox is the Jewish name for smoked salmon.  I do not know the origin of the word Lox.  I do know that a bagel topped with cream cheese and Lox is a heavenly dish.

On our recent trip to Paris (this past August) we did not go to the Moulin Rouge (way to expensive to watch the can-can).  One young lady on the tour, who did go to the show, complained the next day that they served raw smoked salmon for dinner.  I informed her that smoked salmon is raw and is very expensive.  By the pound smoked salmon costs at least $20.00 USD in Los Angeles.

Now a serious smoked salmon (Lox) emergency has befallen us all.  The AP reports “Smoked salmon tainted with salmonella bacteria has sickened hundreds of people in the Netherlands and the United States, sparking a major recall, health authorities said Tuesday.”

What will Lox cost at Jerry’s Famous Deli or Brent’s with this recall?  I won’t be surprised if the cost rises to $50.00 USD a pound.

Moving Into the City

For the first time in a century, most of America’s largest cities are growing at a faster rate than their surrounding suburbs.  Just Google “relocating from the suburbs to the inner city” and you will find multiple articles including this Hartford Courant news item with the headline:  Great Reversion: Boomers and millennials are coming back to urban America. There is this headline on nbc.com: Cities grow more than suburbs, first time in 100 years.

 What is going on is a realization by people of all ages that central areas of cities have more things to do and see (art galleries, theaters, shopping), easier cheaper transportation, faster access to health care, educational opportunities, and some intriguing homes.  On top all this there are no more hour long commutes.

Even Los Angeles has seen a resurgence in central city population growth.  Old and mostly abandoned department stores in the Downtown and Hollywood area still have the same exteriors but have been remodeled into apartments and lofts.  Apartment house developments are along major boulevards and adjoining streets throughout the west side all the way to Venice Beach and Santa   Monica.  Central Long Beach has become a major redevelopment area on the southern perimeter of the city.

San Diego Montage
San Diego Montage

San Diego, my favorite city, has seen a rebuilt central city dominated by high rise condo and apartment developments.  Plenty of night life in the Gas Lamp district, a world class zoo, sports stadiums, and museums that are second to none.  Their light rail and bus system is outstanding.  Don’t send your children to their universities – they won’t return home; even back to Los Angeles.

Businessweek.com evaluated 100 of the country’s largest cities based on 16 criteria, which include: the number of restaurants, bars, and museums per capita; the number of colleges, libraries, and professional sports teams.  Those are some of the reasons living in major metropolitan areas outweighs the congestion and noise that is prevalent.  While you may not agree with their rankings (I don’t) the descriptions tell you the reasons that the suburbs are no longer the place to live.

Marrying Attractive Young Women

Men who are old but famous and rich can marry anyone they want.

Hilaria Thomas
Hilaria Thomas

The latest is Alec Baldwin.  He is 54 and his new bride is his attractive 28 year old yoga instructor, Hilaria Thomas.

He is not the first star to marry someone half his age or close to that number.  Consider Michael Douglas, age 68.  His wife is Catherine Zeta-Jones, age 42.

This desire to marry attractive younger women is not only those in the entertainment community.  Consider Alan Greenspan born in 1926.  His lovely wife is Andrea Mitchell (American television journalist, anchor, reporter, commentator, for NBC News) born in 1946.

From futurescopes.com

Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, born 1931, split from his wife Anna after a marriage of 32 years and three children  together.  Barely seventeen days after his divorce, Murdoch tied the knot with the Chinese-born Wendy Deng, born 1968, who had been newly appointed as the Vice President of Murdoch’s Star TV network and is almost 38 years his junior.

Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, on October 20, 1968. This was a second marriage for both and at the time Onassis was almost sixty while Jacqueline was thirty-nine.

My thing is attractive young red-heads.  However, limited funds and loving my wife limits my options. My wife knows this but she will be dark brown until the day she dies.  It’s worth her visit to the hair dresser every six weeks.

American Exceptionalism and the Reality of a Competitive World Economy

American exceptionalism is the theory that the United States is different from other countries.

Working class Americans (that is most of us) are in a perpetual struggle to live a comfortable life.  However, we are on the brink of a new reality.  We must compete with every other country in the world.  Will American exceptionalism prevail?

The Washington Post reports that American median income fell nearly 8 percent, to $45,800, in 2010. This is no surprise.  It is simply a validation of what we already knew.  It is not going to get better any time soon.  In that same article the Post said our wealth has declined by 40%.  That too is no surprise since home have values have dropped by 40% to 50% in most areas of the country.

Many will try to blame one of the two political parties.  That would be a mistake.  If you look at the laws passed and the trends of American business you will quickly realize that this state of affairs has been going on for decades but was accelerated by the Great Recession.

The painful reality is that Americans must become more ingenious in their struggle to earn the kinds of livings that has become part of the culture.  Our politicians keep telling us that Americans are unique, creative, and exceptional.

  

Today that all seem like a lot of baloney.

Capitalism is the Dominant force in the U.S.A.

Why Barack Obama Cannot Re-Make America

The American system of free enterprise is designed for people to make money.  Those that are smartest find every way to earn money, as long as it is legal, no matter who it hurts.

Bain Capital is an asset management and financial services company that provides venture money for new and struggling companies.  Like any privately held company it is in business to earn the highest possible return for its investors.  There are many other companies like Bain Capital.  The Blackstone Group and the Carlyle Group to name just another two.  Sam Zell, a wealthy real estate investor in Chicago, bought the Tribune Company without investing a single dime of his own money (thanks to some ingenious financing) but the company is now bankrupt (you thought he bought it to prop up that company?).

John_Hancock
John_Hancock

The system has always functioned that way.  The founding of the nation was all about free enterprise.  Those leaders in Philadelphia were mostly rich men who objected to taxation by the crown.  They invented the expression “taxation without representation” to rally the general public.  The best example is John Hancock.  Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable shipping business from his uncle.  John Adams was a well to do lawyer living in the Boston area.  Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were both wealthy land owners in Virginia.

If you do not agree with this form of economics you will have to live elsewhere.  You will not be successful in changing 200 plus years of a system that has built the wealthiest nation in the world.

Alternative countries that you ought to consider are Italy, France, Germany, Canada, UK, Australia, and New   Zealand.  You might notice that many of these countries are part of the British Commonwealth that Americans hated in 1776.  They do have capitalism but also make a greater effort at providing more social programs.

The choice is yours.  Just stop complaining about our system.  It is what it is!

Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton – LVMH


LVMH is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris.  Unknown to most people this giant company is the owner of many well known brands throughout the world.  The company came to my attention after an article about Hermes, a competitor, appeared in Businessweek recently.

Hoover’s Company Profiles says “LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is the world’s largest luxury goods company,  with brands that are bywords for the good life and everything showy.”
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/lvmh-mo-t-hennessy-louis-vuitton-sa#ixzz1v3LJCxUc

The company operates six segments: fashion and leather goods, its largest and oldest; watches and jewelry; wines and spirits; perfumes & cosmetics; selective retailing (including Sephora and airport duty-free retailer DFS); and other (including publishing). Higher-profile brands include Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Givenchy, Tag Heuer, Hennessy, Moet & Chandon, Glenmorangie, and Benefit.

From their own web site the range of products includes

Wines include

  • Champagne Moët & Chandon
  • Dom Pérignon
  • A Total of 22 brands

Fashion and Leather Goods include

  • Louis Vuitton
  • Givenchy
  • A Total of 12 brands

Perfumes and Cosmetics include

  • Christian Dior
  • A Total of 11 brands

Watches and Jewelry include

  • Bulgari
  • De Beers Diamond Jewellers
  • A Total of 8 brands

Selective Retailing include

  • DFS
  • Sephora
  • A Total of 5 brands

Listed on an American stock exchange.  The company has a P/E ratio of 19.4 and last year’s sales of over $23 Billion.

It proves there are lots of very wealthy people in this world.

Mitt Romney Does Not Understand American Life

If you grew up in a poor neighborhood that is the environment you understand.  Likewise if you grew up in a neighborhood of the well to do that is also the world you understand.  I grew up in a very middle class neighborhood and my perceptions are based upon that environment.  I never missed meal and I never went without shoes in that 1250 square foot three bedroom home.

The Associated Press reports: “Mitt Romney says he learns about what it’s like to struggle in a difficult economy by sitting down to chat with regular people. But the Republican presidential candidate doesn’t want anybody to see it — and his campaign won’t say who he meets with or when the meetings occur.”

“Before I begin an event like this, I typically am able to sit down with a few people on an off-the-record kinda basis,” Romney said as he delivered his standard campaign speech Friday in Pittsburgh.

 Mitt Romney’s annual yearly income is over $20 million.  He has off shore accounts to minimize his income tax.  I doubt anyone reading this column has any accounts outside the United States(Unless you live outside the United States).  The Census Bureau says the median household income in the USA from 2006-2010 was $51,914.  Arithmetic Median Definition: Median is the middle value of the given numbers or distribution in their ascending order.

Mitt Romney can hear about the issues of the average American for the rest of his life but he has never had to say “we can’t afford that” or heard your spouse asking if there is enough in the budget to pay for some new curtains or new shoes this month.

Yesterday’s issue for me was getting the lights turned on after an electrical malfunction.  The initial price to do the job right was over $4,000.  The final cost just to get the lights working was $352.  Mr. Romney would have done the $4,000 job.

Mr. Romney’s problem is that he really doesn’t have to face the life of a typical American citizen.  There is no way he can understand. Isn’t he lucky?